Nicknamed Carletto, Ancelotti played as a midfielder, and after emerging with Parma, he had a successful career with Roma – captaining the team – with whom he won one Scudetto and four Coppa Italia honours and was part of the legendary late 1980s Milan team with which he won two Scudetti and two European Cups in a five-year period, under managers Arrigo Sacchi and Fabio Capello. He was capped 26 times and scored one goal for the Italian national team and appeared in the 1990 World Cup. Ancelotti was a cautious, composed, hardworking, and creative, midfielder who was capable of being deployed in several positions; he was regarded as one of the best Italian midfielders of his generation.[1][2] Although he lacked notable physical and athletic characteristics, he was competent defensively, and he also possessed excellent technical ability, tactical intelligence, vision, and passing range, as well as a powerful and accurate shot. He is regarded as having been the mentor and predecessor of Albertini and Pirlo in the deep-lying playmaking role at Milan.[3]

On 30 December 2011, Ancelotti signed a contract with ambitious French side Paris Saint-Germain. In his first full season with the club, Ancelotti managed them to the Ligue 1 title and the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League.[4] On 25 June 2013, Real Madrid announced the signing of Carlo Ancelotti as their new manager on a three-year deal, he was presented to the fans the following day. Ancelotti won the UEFA Champions League with Real Madrid in his first season with the club's tenth title in the competition. Ancelotti is the only manager to hold the record of three times champions and a runners-up of the UEFA Champions League, he joined Bob Paisley as the only two managers to have won three European Cups and one of the five managers to have won a European Cup with two different clubs. Ancelotti also won the Copa Del Rey with Real Madrid making it their 19th Spanish Cup win.

International career[edit]

Ancelotti made his Italian national team debut and scored his first and only goal on 6 January 1981 in a one-off tournament against the Netherlands, which ended in a 1–1 draw. He was very likely to be capped for the 1982 World Cup campaign, but a dramatic knee injury forced him away for several months. He later went on to appear in the 1990 World Cup on home soil, where Italy finished in third place, and he was part of Italy's World Cup squad in the 1986 World Cup; where he did not get any appearances. He was also a member of the Italy squad that reached the semi-finals of the 1988 European Championship. Ancelotti made a total of 26 performances, scoring one goal for Italy, a low right footed shot against Holland in the 1980 Mundialito. He announced his retirement from international football in 1991.

Managerial career[edit]

Early years[edit]

A student at Coverciano, where he penned a research article entitled "Il Futuro del Calcio: Più Dinamicità"[5] (English: The Future of Football: More Dynamism) Ancelotti began his managerial career with Reggiana in 1995, where Reggiana achieved promotion to Serie A. He left the following year, however, for Parma, which included future Italy stars Gianluigi Buffon and Fabio Cannavaro. Parma finished second in the 1996–97 season, which guaranteed them a Champions League place. The following season, Ancelotti guided them to a fifth place, qualifying for the UEFA Cup. In 1999, he was appointed Juventus manager, where he both succeeded and preceded Marcello Lippi, who returned to the club when Ancelotti left. Ancelotti's season began promisingly, winning the Intertoto Cup by beating the red light Rennes 4–2 on aggregate. The following season, however, he went trophyless, finishing runner-up in the Serie A, and he was sacked by Juventus. Ancelotti's dismissal was announced by Juventus at halftime in the final league game of the season, even though they were still in with a chance of winning the title.

Milan[edit]

A.C. Milan celebrates the victory of UEFA Champions League 2007 in Athens

Ancelotti was appointed Milan manager on 6 November 2001, after Fatih Terim was sacked due to poor results. He was inheriting another recently trophyless team in Milan, as the Rossoneri had floundered domestically and in Europe since their last Scudetto victory in 1999. In his first full season, Ancelotti soon had Milan back in European competition, leading them to the semi-finals of the 2001–02 UEFA Cup.

Milan won the 2003 UEFA Champions League Final, beating Juventus 3–2 on penalties at Old Trafford and also won the 2003 Coppa Italia Final. It was a sweet revenge for him as Juventus brutally sacked him and to add insult, Marcello Lippi was re-hired for a second tenure and won back to back Serie A titles. The following season, Milan took home the Scudetto in 2004. Under Ancelotti's reign, Milan were also back-to-back Serie A runners-up to Juventus in 2004–05 and 2005–06 (both Scudettis were later wiped from the record books of Juventus due to Juventus's involvement in the Calciopoli scandal) and lost the 2005 UEFA Champions League Final to Liverpool, losing 2–3 on penalties after a 3–3 draw in normal time; having been 3–0 up at halftime. Two years later, though, Milan avenged their defeat to Liverpool with a 2–1 win at the Olympic Stadium in Athens in the 2007 UEFA Champions League Final, leading to Ancelotti's second Champions League trophy as Milan coach and his fourth title overall, having also won it twice as a Milan player in 1989 and 1990. He also won the FIFA Club World Cup in 2007, the first manager to do so with a European club. Ancelotti announced his resignation from Milan less than an hour following their 2–0 victory over Fiorentina on 31 May 2009.

In the Champions League, Ancelotti returned to the San Siro for the first time since his departure from Milan, when his team faced Internazionale, who was coached by, then, ex-Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho, at the Round of 16 stage. Ancelotti and Mourinho had a tense relationship from the previous season, as managers of Milan and Inter, respectively.[8] Chelsea was eliminated from the Champions League on 16 March 2010 after a 1–3 aggregate loss to Internazionale, having lost 1–2 away and 0–1 at Stamford Bridge.[9][10]

On 9 May 2010, Ancelotti led Chelsea to the Premier League title, beating Manchester United by one point and setting scoring records. The team finished the campaign with 103 goals, becoming the first team in the Premier League to score more than 100 goals in a season, and the first since Tottenham Hotspur in the 1962–63 season.[11] Chelsea secured the title with an 8–0 victory over Wigan at Stamford Bridge.[12] Ancelotti also became the first Italian manager to win the Premier League[13] and only the fifth manager overall in the league's 18 seasons. On 15 May 2010, Ancelotti led Chelsea to victory in the 2009–10 FA Cup, beating Portsmouth 1–0 in the final at Wembley; Chelsea's third victory in the FA Cup in four years, equaling a record set by Arsenal between 2002 and 2005. The Cup win secured Chelsea's first ever domestic double.

The following season, after having lost to Manchester United in the 2010 FA Community Shield in August, Ancelotti led Chelsea to the top of the table on the first weekend of the season thanks to a 6–0 rout of newly promoted West Bromwich Albion. Chelsea followed up this result with another 6–0 win, this time over Wigan, whilst Stoke City were beaten 2–0 in the next match. Chelsea had a good start to the season, winning their first five matches. Chelsea then lost 3–4 against Newcastle United on 23 September 2010 in the League Cup. They then went on to lose against Manchester City in the Premier League 0–1 after a cleverly taken strike by Man City captain Carlos Tevez. Chelsea made a good start in Europe by beating Žilina and Marseille 4–1 and 2–0, respectively, in the 2010–11 UEFA Champions League. Chelsea then defeated fourth-placed Arsenal 2–0 on 3 October 2010, courtesy of a goal from Didier Drogba and a free-kick by defender Alex.

Chelsea's next defeat of the season came against Liverpool at Anfield on 7 November 2010, where they lost 0–2 with both goals coming from Fernando Torres. A week later, Chelsea suffered their second Premier League defeat in three matches with a remarkable 0–3 home defeat to Sunderland. In their following five league games, they lost two and drew three games, culminating in a 1–3 loss to Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium. On 5 January 2011, Chelsea suffered a shock 0–1 defeat at struggling Wolverhampton Wanderers, leaving them fifth in the League and in real danger of missing out on a Champions League place for the first time since 2002.[14] This result led to Ancelotti ruling out Chelsea's chances of retaining the title, insisting that he did not fear that he would be sacked.[15] But after this match, however, Chelsea's form began to improve. First with a 7–0 thrashing of Ipswich Town in the FA Cup at Stamford Bridge and then a 2–0 victory over Blackburn Rovers, followed by emphatic away wins against Bolton Wanderers and Sunderland, putting them in fourth position in the league, still 10 points behind leaders Manchester United, though.

On 31 January 2011, Chelsea signed Liverpool striker Fernando Torres for a British record £50 million and Benfica defender David Luiz for £22 million. Chelsea lost 0–1 to Liverpool at Stamford Bridge but beat league leaders Manchester United on 1 March in a 2–1 comeback win that saw David Luiz net his first goal for Chelsea, which was followed by a 3–1 win away to Blackpool. Chelsea were later defeated by Manchester United at home and away (aggregate of 1–3) in the Champions League quarter-finals.

Following their defeat in the Champions League Chelsea made a remarkable comeback in the league, defeating Wigan 1–0 at home, West Bromwich Albion 3–1 away, Birmingham City 3–1, West Ham United 3–0 and Tottenham Hotspur 2–1 at home. Chelsea, who at some point were fifth and 15 points behind leaders Manchester United, vaulted into the second position the league, just three points behind them with three games left of the season.

On 8 May, however, Chelsea lost 1–2 against Manchester United at Old Trafford to stay second in the league, now six points behind the leaders with just two more games to play.[16] Ancelotti was sacked less than two hours after a 0–1 away defeat against Everton on 22 May, the last match of the season.[17] He was earning £6.5 million per year at Chelsea just before his departure from the club.[18] He reportedly received a severance payment of £6 million from Chelsea.[19]

Paris Saint-Germain[edit]

On 30 December 2011, with Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) at the top of the Ligue 1 with three points down to Montpellier, Ancelotti was appointed as the new manager of the club on the same day as their previous manager, Antoine Kombouaré, was released from his contract. His salary at PSG was reported to be €6 million per year.[19] On 21 March 2012, Ancelotti experienced his first defeat in charge of PSG as the club fell to a 1–3 defeat at the hands of Lyon in a Coupe de Francequarter-final match.[20] 10 days later, PSG suffered their first Ligue 1 defeat under Ancelotti when they lost 1–2 away to Nancy.[21] PSG ended up as runners-up in Ligue 1 in Ancelotti's first season in charge three points behind winners Montpellier.

During Ancelotti's first full season at the club, PSG entered the winter break at the top of the Ligue 1 table ahead of Lyon and Marseille on goal difference. They clinched the Ligue 1 title on 12 May 2013 with two matches to spare.[22][23][24] The club also reached the quarter-final of the Champions League, where they lost to Barcelona on the away goals rule (3–3 on aggregate). On 19 May 2013, Ancelotti asked to leave the club and set to Real Madrid.[25]

Real Madrid[edit]

On 25 June 2013, Ancelotti became the manager of Real Madrid as the replacement for the departing José Mourinho, signing a three-year deal.[26][27] He was introduced at a press conference at the Santiago Bernabéu, where it was also announced that Zinedine Zidane and Paul Clement will be his assistant coaches. Shortly following his arrival, Real Madrid confirmed the signing of Isco for a fee of €24 million which was followed by the signing of Asier Illarramendi for €32 million. Argentinean striker Gonzalo Higuain also left the club for €40 million to Napoli. This paved way for a new world record signing in Gareth Bale £86 million (105 million euros).[28] In Ancelotti's first league game in charge on 18 August 2013, Real Madrid won 2–1 at home against Real Betis.[29]

On 16 April 2014, Ancelotti won his first major trophy as Real Madrid manager after they defeated Barcelona 2–1 in the Copa del Reyfinal held at the Estadio Mestalla.[30] On 29 April, Real Madrid defeated Bayern Munich in the semi-finals of the Champions League by an aggregate score of 5–0 (1–0 in Madrid and 0–4 in Munich), with Los Blancos reaching their first final since they last won the competition in 2002.[31] On 24 May, Real Madrid won their tenth Champions League trophy after defeating Atlético Madrid in the final 4–1 in extra time.[32] He became only the second manager after Liverpool's Bob Paisley to win the competition on three occasions & the only man to ever win the Champions League/European Cup twice as a player and three times as a manager. On 12 August, Ancelotti won another European cup, leading Real Madrid to a 2–0 victory over Sevilla in the 2014UEFA Super Cup. He then went on to win FIFA Club World Cup in December 2014, finishing year with 4 trophies.

Personal life[edit]

Ancelotti has 2 children: a daughter, Katia; and a son, Davide, who also played in the Milan youth team and later joined Borgomanero in June 2008.[33] In 2008, Ancelotti confirmed in an interview that he had broken up with his wife of 25 years, Luisa Gibellini.[33][34] Then he dated Marina Cretu. In 2011, it was announced he was dating Canadian business woman, Mariann Barrena McClay.[35] Carlo and Mariann were married in Vancouver in July 2014.

In May 2009, Ancelotti's autobiography, Preferisco la Coppa ("I Prefer the Cup", with a word-play by Ancelotti on the Italian word "coppa" that stands both for "cup" and a type of cured cold pork meat cut), was published, with all proceeds from sales of the book going to the Fondazione Stefano Borgonovo for the funding of research on amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.[36]

In his last season with Chelsea, Ancelotti had to travel back to Italy on a regular basis to visit his 87-year-old father who was in poor health with diabetes and other issues. On the issue, he said, "I don't have a problem managing the team for this reason. It's difficult, emotionally, when it's your father... but this is life. I have to do my best to stay close to him, but this is the life."[37] His father died on 29 September 2010, aged 87.[38]